Kylian Mbappé's global takeover continues this week following news of a multi-year partnership with eyewear brand Oakley. It speaks to Mbappé's preposterous talent and understated star power that Oakley wanted the Frenchman as part of its "Be Who You Are" campaign, which is largely dominated by athletes that actually wear Oakley products while competing, like NFL stars Jalen Hurts and Michael Gallup, skiers Eileen Gu and Mikaela Shiffrin and snowboarders Mark McMorris and Sage Kotsenburg.
But maybe, just maybe (I'm making this up as I go), Mbappé does plan on sporting Oakleys while on the pitch. If he really wants to standout, he'd do well to follow in the footsteps of Edgar Davids — an absolute icon of the defensive midfield position and of wearing stunner shades.
Photo: Getty Images
Davids wore his protective glasses after undergoing surgery for glaucoma, but there's no rule against wearing glasses as long as they're not dangerous to the player, their teammates or the opponents. Unfortunately this means that the glasses need to be manufactured to be worn during sports, ruling out Mbappé sprinting around the pitch at 22.4 mph in Oakley Kato shades.
The "Welcome to Team Oakley" video is great because it uses footage from Mbappé's youth career at Bondy.
Those clips are from a 2010 YouTube video that's since become legend.
As for the present, there's still nothing but rumors concerning Mbappé's future.
The 23-year-old's current PSG deal expires on June 30, paving the way for a free transfer to Real Madrid. However, the latest reports say Mbappé might be considering a short-term extension in Paris as he's now clearly the club's standout performer — despite the presence of Lionel Messi and Neymar — and swayed by the potential appointment of Zinedine Zidane as manager.
We'll wait for Fabrizio Romano to tell us.
